Test equipment currently available to cell site field crews and installers for optical fiber based installations and other RAN cell site equipment include handheld tools such as an optical power meter, optical fiber scope and optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR). While handheld tools such as these can provide a number of on-site troubleshooting benefits they also have certain limitations from an operational perspective. For instance, these tools require that testing be performed on site at either site level or at tower top. Further, field testing is intrusive and can cause service disruptions.
Whereas advances in RAN deployment architectures continue to grow apace, with concomitant developments in handheld cell site test tools, several lacunae remain in the field of RAN diagnostic tools, thereby requiring further innovation as will be set forth hereinbelow